I was someone who didn’t peak in high school, those four years were actually a valley rather than a peak in my life. If you consider yourself someone who is still waiting for life to pick up, you might feel the same as I do. High school was when life really had me on my knees begging for life to stop kicking me when I was down. High school is when hundreds of adolescents are shoved into one building, and are constantly, and even unknowingly influencing each other on a daily basis. As you get older, people will try to tell you that high school is where life begins. They’ll tell you that life will never be the same after graduation.

They’ll tell you "high school is the greatest four years of your life!” and you'll stop, terrified, and think, “it gets worse?!” They’ll tell you that you will miss walking those halls, you will miss everyone, you will regret every event you didn’t attend. Wrong. There are those of us who don’t want ages fifteen-eighteen to be the peaks of our lives. We do not care about the kid sitting next to us who won prom queen or king. We see high school for what is really is, a stepping stone, rather than the goal itself.

As for me, don’t get me wrong, I had fun, and I kind of liked my fellow classmates, I just couldn’t believe that high school was the best life had to offer me. I saw past those high school walls disguised as glorified prison walls. I saw past the lunch benches, the popular kids, lockers, and water fountains. I saw college, careers, families. I saw high school as a stepping stone onto better things. I spent so much time depressed because I was lonely, unpopular, not enough, and a million other things I told myself. I watched everyone else rise to the top and I was anchored to the ocean floor, drowning.

Sometimes I do look back on things I actually liked about high school, like sports or some of my teachers. Other than that, I couldn’t wait to get out. It’s not that I was ungrateful about my education, because I surely was very appreciative of the education before me. I just wanted my life to progress. I wanted to be the first in my family to graduate high school, with plans of actually going to college. I wanted better. I wanted life to start. I hit the ground running on graduation day. When I moved my tassel from left to right, I knew my valley was turning into a hill. A hill that would be a difficult climb, but an amazing and peaceful view. I’m glad I didn’t fall into the trap of believing that high school was my life’s peak. I’m glad I saw past the halls, lunch benches, and popularity contests. I can’t wait to see what’s on the other side of this hill.